third heaven???

[Jehuty_X]

// after viewing a page from dr. jack van impe (question of the week) for fun, I came upon a question. the question was:

You have taught on the third heaven being 186 trillion billion miles from Earth. Could you elaborate, so that I can speak with clarity on this issue?
Scott Coleman
Holly, Michigan

2 Corinthians 12;2 tells us that when we die we go to the third heaven. What then is the first heaven? That goes up 600 miles into space as the atmosphere, troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere, and exosphere.

Now, beyond that we have the second heaven, and the astronomers tell us that with our telescopes we have been able to see 95% to the end of the second heaven. And that’s somewhere around 186 trillion billions of miles. Could be a little farther, for the last 5 percent.

And then we’re in the third heaven, God’s throne. That’s it. I hope I’ve made it clear to you today, and that’s why I’m constantly rejoicing, because when He says “come up hither”, Revelation 4:1, we’re going up in the twinkling of an eye, that’s 11/100ths of a second, thru 186 trillion billions of miles. Amen!

// i did check on the new american babel bible (2 corinthians 12;2) to see what it is written in the footnotes about the third heaven and it says:

In the body or out of the body: he seemed no longer confined to bodily conditions, but he does not claim to understand the mechanics of the experience. Caught up: i.e., in ecstasy. The third heaven … Paradise: ancient cosmologies depicted a multitiered universe. Jewish intertestamental literature contains much speculation about the number of heavens. Seven is the number usually mentioned, but the Testament of Levi (2, 7-10: 3, 1-4) speaks of three; God himself dwelt in the third of these. Without giving us any clear picture of the cosmos, Paul indicates a mental journey to a nonearthly space, set apart by God, in which secrets were revealed to him. Ineffable things: i.e., priviledge knowledge, which it was not possible or permitted to divulge.

// can someone shed some light about this? is this true?

// oh and yes i am very clueless about this third heaven…

 

[Carlion]

New American is a Catholic Bible, right? I would go with what it says and ignore the other guy. Sounds almost like Mormon theology. They have something about God residing near a star.

 

[COPLAND_3]

I don’t know if what Jack said was accurate or not, sometimes he’s not (to say it modestly). CORNELIUS À LAPIDE gave some excellent quotes from some of the greatest Christian minds concerning the 3rd heaven catholicapologetics.info/scripture/newtestament/2ndcor1213.htm

In my opinion, I think the 1st heaven is the sky, the 2nd heaven would be outer space, and the 3rd would be Heaven where the blessed go.

 

[Jehuty_X]

// thank you…

 

[Crumpy]

I was reading some books on Judaism. I think the one that pertains to your question is Everyman’s Talmud by Abraham Cohen. This is a popular Jewish book. I found a copy of it my local public library.

The Talmud is a written commentary that the rabbis collected between 200 and 600 A.D. (or C.E, as the Jews would say, the “common era”). Talmud means ‘study’ and it refers to the study of the Hebrew Bible, what Christian Bibles call the Old Testament.

The rabbis found seven words for heaven in the Hebrew Bible, so they rationalized that there were seven heavens, or levels of heaven, in particular. One of the popular early rabbis was Rabbi Akiva. He is reported to have said that it would take 500 years for a man to travel across each level of heaven.

In this scheme, God is in the seventh heaven,which is the remote from mankind on earth.

All of this is not meant to be taken literally, about the mileage one would travel in 500 years, but is simply indicative of the immense gap between heaven and earth.

This also illustrates the idea of Jewish storytelling, to teach Jews how to understand the Bible.

 

[bullfrog654]

All of this is not meant to be taken literally, about the mileage one would travel in 500 years, but is simply indicative of the immense gap between heaven and earth.

This also illustrates the idea of Jewish storytelling, to teach Jews how to understand the Bible.

as in the above i agree and understand the ilistration of history however one can be saved in the time of season such similar to the 500 time period. Mans promises and endurences towards the such wicked mans deals made through ritual.

so i agree totally everything in gods eye is seen as prair and deals ex. (gaing faith) do we need to really travel down that path

 

[juliamajor]

All of this is not meant to be taken literally, about the mileage one would travel in 500 years, but is simply indicative of the immense gap between heaven and earth.

This also illustrates the idea of Jewish storytelling, to teach Jews how to understand the Bible.

as in the above i agree and understand the ilistration of history however one can be saved in the time of season such similar to the 500 time period. Mans promises and endurences towards the such wicked mans deals made through ritual.

so i agree totally everything in gods eye is seen as prair and deals ex. (gaing faith) do we need to really travel down that path

HUH!?

 

[Indyann]

HUH!?

Is it possible there could be a full moon covering the entire universe this AM? Sure seems like it.

 

[bullfrog654]

Sin is pleasurable for a season…

Heb 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

But never tells you it’s outcome…

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

heb and rom means it is pleasurable not to understand or abide by the deals above between the season it was accepted till it was written and understood such as in this essay. this is because god blesses the ignorance of man with bitterness sweet as honey. (revelations)

and

Matthew 24:13
13 But he that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved.

mathews meens the day such things as this essay are written.

these are the scriptures i speak of. within prair or witchcraft ritual god breaks it down mainly to a question or deal mutually at times agreed upon. between the time the question is answered or deal made and thge time on earth scripture or mans wisdom achieves to understand such effection within guidelines. if god reveals such things to a man imbetween i understand as above as sin is pleasurable for a season endured in some cases by alot of religious people by lawlessness feeding.

 

[pnewton]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Heaven

The third heaven is the abode of God. The first heaven is the realm of the birds and the clouds, what we call atmosphere, as in the "birds of the heavens: (Job 25:11). I believe the second heaven is the realm of the planets, the stars, the moon and the sun, the things placed in the heavens in Genesis. Today we use words like “atmosphere” and “outer space”. "Heaven " is reserved to be used as the home of God. However, Revelation tells us that the old Heaven and Earth will pass away. Since God is not going anywhere, we can assume there must be at least one more mundane use of the word.

 

[Jehuty_X]

I was reading some books on Judaism. I think the one that pertains to your question is Everyman’s Talmud by Abraham Cohen. This is a popular Jewish book. I found a copy of it my local public library.

The Talmud is a written commentary that the rabbis collected between 200 and 600 A.D. (or C.E, as the Jews would say, the “common era”). Talmud means ‘study’ and it refers to the study of the Hebrew Bible, what Christian Bibles call the Old Testament.

The rabbis found seven words for heaven in the Hebrew Bible, so they rationalized that there were seven heavens, or levels of heaven, in particular. One of the popular early rabbis was Rabbi Akiva. He is reported to have said that it would take 500 years for a man to travel across each level of heaven.

In this scheme, God is in the seventh heaven,which is the remote from mankind on earth.

All of this is not meant to be taken literally, about the mileage one would travel in 500 years, but is simply indicative of the immense gap between heaven and earth.

This also illustrates the idea of Jewish storytelling, to teach Jews how to understand the Bible.

// interesting…funny thing i did read a bit of 3 baruch (revelations) and it mentioned of 5 heavens…below is the link…
web.archive.org/web/20030421102137/http://wesley.nnu.edu/noncanon/ot/pseudo/3baruch.htm

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Heaven

The third heaven is the abode of God. The first heaven is the realm of the birds and the clouds, what we call atmosphere, as in the "birds of the heavens: (Job 25:11). I believe the second heaven is the realm of the planets, the stars, the moon and the sun, the things placed in the heavens in Genesis. Today we use words like “atmosphere” and “outer space”. "Heaven " is reserved to be used as the home of God. However, Revelation tells us that the old Heaven and Earth will pass away. Since God is not going anywhere, we can assume there must be at least one more mundane use of the word.

// i will admit that i have not yet read revelations (only parts)…can you please tell me the chapter and verse?